


Purple Skies

by thelouistiti



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Butterflies, Grief/Mourning, Witch Louis Tomlinson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 10:59:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13634919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelouistiti/pseuds/thelouistiti
Summary: Louis loses his Nana and fights his way back into a life without her. The butterflies will find you even in the darkest path of your soul.





	Purple Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This was written for the 1dshortficfest, this fic was at 8k when I first wrote it before suddenly remembering how it was only supposed to be 2500 words max and rewrote the whole thing. 
> 
> Warning spoilers: please don't hesitate to contact me if you're scared of the angst, I promise I made it to be as soft as the subject could. Nana's death is non-violent, it's a witchy death (if there is even such a thing) and it's deeply linked with earth and powers. It isn't a painful death, it was just time for her to go in peace.
> 
> Disclaimers : I know nothing about witchcraft and this work do not reflect in any way reality. I do not intend to offend anyone <3
> 
> To Nina, with love.

_{...} you will find me_  
_In places that we've never been_  
_For reasons we don't understand  
_Walking in the wind {...}__

__

____

Louis’ butterflies scatters away as if they were a single being, with a blast of air, they’re all gone. He misses the cloud of colors their escape creates and the delicious sound of their wings flapping in an ethereal rythme, he’s too focused on the light glowing that escapes Nana’s frame. 

Louis is a bit confused, he would have sworn he was safely tucked in his bed, scribbling some ideas for a new potion bottling the moonlight energy. Yet, here he is. The meadow looks different by dusk, it’s surprisingly engaging, all soft weeds and herbs bending under the wind, waving from left to right, nature’s sounds whispering a peaceful lullaby in his hair. 

Nana is right there, she’s collecting flowers under a solitary tree, humming to herself. Louis frowns, her song doesn’t match the scenery. He can’t understand the lyrics but her voice quivers slightly by the end of each verse.

“Nana?” he calls. “Nana?”

She lifts her head and looks at him, her eyes are a dark brown that almost match the tone of her skin and reflects an infinite kindness. He takes a step forward but flinches when he realises Nana isn’t looking at him but at a small frog happily hopping around. Does she not see him? 

“Uh,” he tries again. “Nana?” 

This time, the lady turns around, her small steps leading her away. The glow gets more obvious, it grows and grows and grows until it’s like Nana’s whole aura is shining. She stops in the middle of the meadow, facing the setting sun. Her song hasn’t stopped, it gets louder and faster with every second that passes until Nana’s out of breath and stops abruptly. 

Her tinkling laugh invades all the space around Louis.

The strong wave of energy that washes over his entire being catches him off guard and the next thing he knows he’s rolling on ground, covering his eyes because the light is so fucking bright. When he opens them again, Nana is floating in the air, a few feet from the ground. Her arms are widely spread out and her hair wildly wafting. 

Nana’s aura is fading away and Louis can only watch as the colors slowly starts escaping. Layers by layers. Red, golden, light green and deep blue, bits of grey and pink coming off. Each colors stays up in the air the time of a heartbeat before disappearing. Irremediably. Louis knows the process, he has heard about it a million times. In old tales, at school, scribbled in a book but, how could he have ever figured that it could be more than just whispered gossip in the coven? 

It hasn’t happened in centuries.... the death of a witch. 

He’s frozen on the spot, his limbs are numb, refusing to let him stand back on his legs. He can’t move, can’t think, his mind an ongoing loop of blank spells as he tries in vain to come up with something useful. Something to stop his Nana from… A lavender layer falls, Louis opens his mouth to scream. Nothing comes out. 

A silver one is next, his whole body starts shaking. Nana’s aura is a creamy white and it shines. Oh, it shines. Bright and loud and clear. It shines! Louis feels his whole existence lights up and his chest feels with a pure caress of wonder. A lone tear rolls on his cheek, ending up its run on the soil. 

He doesn’t have to look down to know a flower just bloomed, he feels a butterfly skimming his hand. The sun disappears on the horizon. Nana’s body falls brutally, lifeless. Louis runs.

\-------

“Nana, tell me about the colors!”  
“Again? Are you sure you don’t know the story word by word already?”  
“Please, Nana! For me?”

_Do you believe, I’ll never be too far?_

“Colors are full meanings and each witch has a special color that will fill her aura. Yellow is sunshine, joy, happiness, energy. Red is fire, life, blood, desire. Green is earth, growth, harmony, safety. Blue is sea, wisdom, truth, depth. White is -”

“Nana, Nana! Tell me about purple!”

“Purple my dear, is mystery, magic, creativity. Purple is the balance of blue and red, purple is royalty, confidence and pride. Purple is healing.” 

_If you're lost, just look for me  
You'll find me in the region of the summer stars_

“Nana… what color am I?”

\-------

Louis sneezes and the butterfly that landed on his nose a second before scurries away, followed by a myriad of his kind that were scattered all over his naked body. His head hurts from the shock and winces when he tries to get his body to sit up. The sun is already up and high in the sky, the brightness blinding him. He doesn’t even try to fight it, just closes his eyes back and relax his body back on the warm sand while the butterflies find their ways back on him.

He has no idea where he might be, nor does it find it in himself to care. 

Gulls and kittiwakes are singing above his head, he can hear the swell of waves crashing against rocks and smell the gentle salted atmosphere surrounding him. 

Time being an illusion has never been more truthful statement than it is as Louis lays here, bathing in the sunlight. He’s blissfully unaware of its course and it’d be perfect if it wasn’t due to the numbness of his entire being. 

He plays with the sand, grasping a handful of it and letting it falls back on himself, making it fly with an easy trick he learned with Nana what feels like a lifetime ago, it swirls and swirls till it shapes into an almost perfect replica of a frog. He focuses on his aura, trying to gather enough of it to give some colors to his creation.

He tries. Again. Again. One more.  
It could be minutes, hours, months. 

Maybe it’s a year, maybe a century. But when he makes the decision to leave and get a hold on his clothes, hidden behind a oak, the sky is a cobalt blue that he could only dream of reproducing.

“Time to go home, I guess.” he whispers, no need to disturb the peaceful cove basking in the moonlight. He’s not sure his voice could handle any actual talk anyway. 

\-------- 

Niall looks at him from behind his sunglasses, he can see their vibrant blue through the tinted glass as his friend attempts to make him laugh by switching his hair to every colors he can think about. Maybe he forgot Louis is still bitter about his own lack of skills when it comes to the colors. 

“Are you quite finished Niall?” he finally snaps after a few more rounds of rainbow switch. 

Niall’s so startled by his tone that his hair freeze in the middle of transitioning, his hair stuck between a yellow and green shade. It actually looks ridiculous and Louis almost feels a laugh building in his throat but it gets caught halfway. It seems to do that a lot lately. 

He’s halfway. 

Halfway to what, halfway to where, fuck if he knows. But he’s halfway and it hurts like hell. 

“Lou…” Niall calls. “Louis please.” 

Louis sighs. Going out wasn’t a good idea. He’s not ready to face the world and he feel like he will never be. He wishes he could just disappear, go into the wild and let the earth take him away, bring him the peace he longs for so desperately. He promised to be here for his coven’s birthday but he can’t. It’s beyond him.

“What time is it?” he asks.  
“Time to partyyyyyy!” yells a chorus of voices behind them and Louis dreads to turns around, good thing he doesn’t have to because soon a sea of arms is grabbing him and burying him in affection and love. Toasts are made, kisses exchanged, he can feel the whirlwind of emotions and energies filling in his chest, they’re one after all. They’ve always been one but, sitting here, Louis feels like it’s just him. 

He closes his eyes.

\-------- 

_Walking in the wind._

Walking in the wind. 

_Walking in the wind._

Louis screams. He screams with his whole being, his body tensing up and his mind going blank with it. He screams and screams and screams.

It’s not enough. 

Louis cries. He cries, hot fresh tears pouring down his face, washing away the mud spread on his cheeks, damping his shirt. He cries and cries and cries. 

It’s not enough. 

Louis remembers. He remembers big brown eyes looking down to him, playful smiles and laughing lines marking the skin in that strange way he hasn’t see on any of his friends’ face. He remembers the constant excitement he felt, the first spells, freshly cut flowers waiting for him by his cauldron, the rickety cupboards falling over twice a month in the middle of the kitchen. All the laughter. He remembers warm tea sinking down his throat, old tales and lessons by the fireside, endless conversations and love. Love and love and love.

A butterfly lands on his nose as he stares at his reflection in the broken mirror, he doesn’t think about the strands and locks of his hair in the sink.

It’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, this fic is very dear to my heart and I loved writing it! Come and say hi on Tumblr, I'm at [thelouistiti !](http://thelouistiti.tumblr.com) and maybe reblog the [fic post](http://thelouistiti.tumblr.com/post/171768171218/purple-skies-by-thelouistiti-1563-words-louis) if you liked it? Much love x


End file.
